The use of vibratory or shaker conveyors or vibratory distributors to distribute or meter bulk articles, such as bulk food articles, has been common for many years. One technique has been to provide proportional gate stations at various locations along the length of an elongated shaker conveyer. Generally, transverse metering apertures are formed in a conveyor bed at each gate station to enable the articles to fall by gravity through the metering apertures into receiving hoppers or storage containers or onto diversion conveyers
Transverse gates are positioned at the gate stations for transverse sliding movement to selectively cover the apertures to restrict or enlarge the effective opening of the apertures to meter the amount or proportion of the articles that are diverted from the main stream at each gate station. Generally the articles that are diverted at each station are taken from a particular lateral segment of the main stream, rather than substantially uniformly across the full width of the main stream. Furthermore, the slide gates and supporting structure extends transversely outward from the side of the vibratory shaker a substantial distance when the gate or aperture is fully open, thereby substantially increasing the effective width of the vibratory shaker.
One of the objects and advantages of the present invention is to provide a bulk article vibratory distributor having one or more gating stations along its length that is able to accurately meter or divert bulk material from the main stream across substantially the full width of the stream independent of the amount of articles being diverted.
An additional object and advantage of the present invention is to provide a bulk article vibratory distributor in which the gate mechanism for opening and closing the gate to divert articles from across the full width of the main stream requires movement far less than the full width of the main stream or conveyor bed.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon careful consideration of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.